SUPERLATIVES are all too easily banded about these days. I try not to use them unnecessarily, but in the case of Yamaha R6 it’s perfectly justified.

Towards the end of last summer Yamaha unveiled the R6 and I remember attempting to get near it at Brands Hatch (where it was being shown) but had to give up as the crowd was several people deep and the racing was about to start.

However, calling into Magnum Motorcycles of Gillingham recently, there was this stunning black R6 demonstrator – Christmas had come early!

So successful is the R6 that there is a nationwide set of races – appropriately named the R6 Cup – which involves the one make/one size of bike and it’s proving to be a hotbed of talent. But just how good is it and could it wear two hats – one the racer, the other the towny?

The answer to both is a massive affirmative. At first glance the R6 gives the impression that Yamaha has produced a machine that possibly will become a classic.

It’s ultra sleek - menacing even - from the sound of its MotoGP-inherited low-slung, side exit exhaust, to the Darth Vader mask angular front looks.

When you first sling a leg over the saddle the ride height and position feel awkward, there’s nothing in front of you as your head is virtually over the front forks and at slow speeds there’s quite a bit of wrist strain, but once you can find some open roads and let the fly-by-wire throttles do their job, it’s a whole new ball game.

The four-stroke four-cylinder thrives on revs. Below 6,000 rpm it’s fairly docile, but start to play with the super-slick six-speed gearbox in the lower gears, let the revs rise above 7,000 rpm and by 11,000 rpm the scenery is really disappearing at an alarming rate.

If you’ve got the guts, by 16,000 rpm you should be experiencing something akin to Captain Kirk’s Starship Enterprise going into warp factor one and by 19,000 rpm Scotty would be screaming at Kirk: "I canee give it any more Capp’n!"

The engine characteristics are almost like a two-stroke with a power band coming in fast and furious.

Does the rest of the bike support the bullet-proof engine? Again, the superb front twin-disc four-pot Nissin calipers have your arms burying themselves into your shoulder sockets as the merest of tweaks on the lever haul the bike down to sensible speeds, the single rear Nissin caliper is equally effective and the upside-down front forks with adjustable everything can be set up to cope with just about anything a normal road-rider would require.

At the rear a single shock set-up with multi-adjustable settings keeps the back end firmly planted without any heart-stopping moments as the bike is powered in to or out of bends.

With footpegs some 15ins off the ground there’s acres of clearance and shod with Dunlops on 17in rims the grip is akin to a pit-bull terrier with a bone – it just won’t let go!

You have to use the gearbox to get the bike to perform and the cable-operated clutch is almost redundant as the top three ratios can be engaged either up or down without the clutch.

The new YZR R6 features a slipper clutch, which makes downshifting even smoother with very little chance of rear wheel lock-up on the over-rev.

When riding fast the shape of the petrol tank makes it very grippable, helping to steer the bike through fast corners.

I was able to do a direct comparison with a friend’s Suzuki GSXR 600 K7 as we rode out across the marshes to Dungeness, swopping bikes several times.

The Suzuki K7 is not as light in steering as the Yamaha and with the Suzuki you sit in the bike, it’s more comfortable; whereas on the R6 you sit on the bike with a higher saddle; however the exhaust note of the Suzuki K7 is much more sportier and rortier.

Performance-wise there wasn’t much in it – given that we were riding on normal roads, however on the track I suspect the Yamaha R6 would have the edge – just!

The rider is presented with a huge analogue rev counter and. of course, lap timer, two trips, coolant temperature, clock and, almost as an after-thought, a smallish square-looking lcd speedo which can be converted to read either mph or kph. It could do with a digital gear indicator as per the Suzuki K7, as once or twice I found I had another gear left in the box. Fuel consumption averaged out at 123 miles per tankful but with a bit more restraint you could probably get a few more miles per gallon.

Handlebar switchgear has more or less standardised itself and the Yamaha was no exception.

The R6 is fairly unique. If you see one in your rear-view mirror, there’s a permanent dip light and then in between the two main lights is a constant small running light peculiar to the design.

Unlit roads are no problem with the main beam giving an excellent spread of light.

Home maintenance is minimal with most components requiring a fair bit of dismantling to get to. The Yamaha YZR comes with an immobiliser as standard and side stand only.

At £7,500 on the road, the R6 is one of the most sought-after bikes in the Yamaha stable, almost as rare as hens’ teeth, and quite rightly so, definitely on my wish list!

FACTFILE

TECH SPEC: Four-cylinder in-line four-stroke, liquid cooled engine; four-valves per cylinder; 600cc DOHC; six-speed gearbox; cable operated clutch; 127bhp @14,500 rpm.

DEALER: Magnum Motorcycles, 41-45 Canterbury Street, Gillingham, Kent. Tel: 01634 851200/855504.